Dispatchers said 911 calls flood the lines at the dispatch center, and it gets even worse when the weather is bad.

"We're tied up with power's out or trees down or there's a stray dog in the yard and he's getting wet, you know, these are calls that we get," said Mike Bunner, emergency services director.

Some of those non-emergency calls should be sent somewhere else, Bunner said, so dispatchers can focus on more pressing needs. An overflow of non-emergency calls nearly caused an emergency during a June storm, he said.

"We had a huge eye-opener with the windstorm," Bunner said.

They received 800 calls in the first two hours, crashing the Warren County's system and the city of Franklin's, where calls are routed during peak volume.

A temporary fix is in the works, limiting simultaneous calls to 14 at the communications center. After that, callers will receive a busy signal or hear a recording.

"We're also looking at forming a partnership with surrounding counties that have a larger (staff) that possibly can help us support our calls," Bunner said.

They're also looking to add a 311 non-emergency line.

"It's fairly easy to remember, just like 911, and that is hoping to alleviate a lot of the calls in the 911 pipeline," Bunner said.

He urged residents to refrain from calling 911 unless their life or property is in danger.